Tech Employment Snapshot - Q1 2013

The number of women working in technology consulting has grown by 156,100 since March 2004. But, as a percentage of that workforce — the rate is steady at 31 percent. The position gap is still evident, even if the like-for-like pay gap has disappeared.

Tech changes, but workforce trends have more or less stayed the same, with one big exception — turnover.

According to Dice, reporting on numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for tech professionals continues to remain low (3.5 percent) compared to the national average (7.7 percent). Despite a lower than national average rate, however, the number of tech professional voluntarily choosing to quit their positions (380,000 - average for first two months of Q1) is still running under the 10-year monthly average of 402,000. Additionally, the number of layoffs and discharges averaged 386,500 for the first two months. Having more layoffs and discharges than voluntary quits is the job market we have, not the job market anyone wants.